Heisman's log

[Heisman2]

Busy days recently. Tried to squat a couple days ago and didn't go well with some knee pain. May deadlift next session. Pullups today:

Weighted pullups:
warmup
BW+110x4x3
BW+90x5
BW+70x6
BW+45x7

Dumbbell curls:
warmup
50x4
45x5

Done at this point. In and out fairly quickly. I'll do the same weight on pullups next time and try to get more sets.

[Payton1221]

Hammer grip machine shoulder press:
warmup
140x3
120x4
100x6
80x8
60x10

Are you purposefully choosing the "hammer grip" type of shoulder press for a reason (versus OH barbell press) or is this just a convenient press to satisfy pressing vertically?

[Heisman2]

Are you purposefully choosing the "hammer grip" type of shoulder press for a reason (versus OH barbell press) or is this just a convenient press to satisfy pressing vertically?

Convenience for me with the way the machine is set up. I like to do them seated with back support as I find when standing I can lean back more than I am comfortable with.

Went to the gym today:

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
85x5
85x3
70x7
70x6
70x5

These all felt good. This times my PR with the 85s.

Weighted dips:
BWx1
BW+25x1

Stopped there as I felt a significant pulling sensation along the right side of my sternum. I go very deep on dips but have never actually had an injury anywhere along the sternum. I am not considering this an injury as now an hour later I have no pain with full range of motion but I'm going to be very careful with my next session to try to ensure this is not exacerbated.

[Heisman2]

Been quite busy so haven't been lifting; I did get to the gym today.

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
85x4.5
70x7

Weighted pullups:
warmup
BW+115x1

Front squats:
warmup
265x1 with a 1 second pause

Called it there. I'm about to start a stretch of nights so it will be another week before I get back to the gym. This all felt ok. Actually quite happy with how the squats felt with regards to my knees.

[Heisman2]

Finished my stretch of nights. Last night one of the patients was pretty sick and it was fairly stressful but I don't think I did anything incorrectly despite many opportunities to do so.

Anyways, lifted today:

Front squats with 3 second pauses:
warmup
265x1
225x3x3

Felt good. I've decided my knee pain is patellar tendonitis; the several days off seemed to help today and will hopefully carry forward. I need to continue sitting back consciously to keep the load more on the hamstrings/hips (even with the front squats which are more typically quad dominant) and I should hopefully be good.

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
90x4

This matches my all time PR. VERY happy with this.

Weighted dips:
warmup
BW+135 x 1 - felt good
BW+160 x 0 - I was about 3-4 inches short, I think.

Felt good warming up so I went for a PR. I didn't really expect to get it as I haven't been very strong when training these recently.


Overall very happy with this workout. I have one more difficult month and then I get 5 outpatient months in row where I will hopefully be able to train both hard and consistently with a good routine assuming I don't get sick too frequently and for too long (I was sick for a good 4 week stretch in February which set me back a lot).

[Heisman2]

My legs are still insanely sore from the squats. I didn't realize how detrained I was. Definitely sticking with 3 second pauses for the foreseeable future. Lifted today:

Weighted pullups:
warmup
BW+115x3
BW+115x1
BW+90x3
BW+70x4
BW+45x5
BW+25x5

Dumbbell curls:
warmup
50x5

Done there, felt sore by the end. My weakness on pullups is at the top after my arms are past 90 degrees so I think I may start incorporating specific work for that portion of the lift.

[Payton1221]

My weakness on pullups is at the top after my arms are past 90 degrees so I think I may start incorporating specific work for that portion of the lift.

Do you think doing them as "21's" might help? You know: do 7 (weighted if necessary) pull-ups on the bottom half of the movement, then immediately do 7 more on the top half, then finish with 7 more full ROM pull-ups.

P.S. Do you use creatine? Due to a combination (perhaps) of taking an extended time (~3 wks) from pressing exercises due to a shoulder issue and having not taken creatine in the last 10 days or so (vacation), my pressing strength is as low as it has been in over a year Would you attribute some or much of this drop to the creatine? I recall one other time when I didn't take creatine, and while I can't recall the percentage drop, I do recall it being noticeable.

[Heisman2]

Do you think doing them as "21's" might help? You know: do 7 (weighted if necessary) pull-ups on the bottom half of the movement, then immediately do 7 more on the top half, then finish with 7 more full ROM pull-ups.

P.S. Do you use creatine? Due to a combination (perhaps) of taking an extended time (~3 wks) from pressing exercises due to a shoulder issue and having not taken creatine in the last 10 days or so (vacation), my pressing strength is as low as it has been in over a year Would you attribute some or much of this drop to the creatine? I recall one other time when I didn't take creatine, and while I can't recall the percentage drop, I do recall it being noticeable.

I don't think 21s will be helpful as I seem to be quite a bit stronger on the bottom as I stall after my arm breaks 90 degrees. I was thinking more along the lines of heavy one armed partial pulldowns (just focusing on the latter half of the movement) and focusing on heavy negatives. The negatives would be hard to set up as with that much weight I cannot jump up and it would be hard for me to step up onto a box but I can probably come up with something.

I don't use creatine. I don't think that should make a big difference. I would expect the 3 week layoff to make a huge difference. It should only take a few workouts to get back to where you were.

Pressing movements today:

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
90x4
80x4
70x6

All felt good, and I didn't feel great warming up so I'm quite happy with this.

Weighted dips:
warmup
BW+115 x 1 with a 3 second pause

This was a challenge but felt good.

[Heisman2]

Quick front squat session today:

Front squats with 3 second pauses:
warmup
245x2x3
245x1

That's it. My legs were so incredibly sore after the last workout I wanted to keep the volume way down and just go up on weight some. These felt good. We'll see how I feel tomorrow and the next day.

[Heisman2]

Had a bit of a cold but recovering (over the worst of it). Lifted today:

Weighted pullups:
warmup
BW+135x1
BW+70x6x5

Pulley rows:
warmup
200x3x5

Dumbbell curls:
warmup
60x1
55x2
50x3
45x4
40x6

This all felt good. I should get in a good session tomorrow before I start a long 2 weeks (the 2nd week I'll be on nights). I'll get to the gym when I can.

[Heisman2]

Slept a lot but still tired, most likely from my cold (still improving). Lifted today:

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
95x0 (I got it into a good position but didn't have the strength to get them up)
70x11/7/6/5/4

Weighted dips:
warmup
BW+115x1
BW+90x2
BW+70x3

Hammer grip shoulder machine press:
warmup
130x6 (PR)

Overhead cable tricep extensions/pushdowns:
warmup
100x10/2

I was quite fatigued after the benching. Everything felt fine. Gonna try to squat tomorrow.

[Payton1221]

How's the bodyweight/bodyfat going? Just checking on how the goals from page 1 are going. And if you reached the bodyfat goal of 10%, what do/did you think? I'm like a lot of folks who have vacillated between lean but DYEL-look versus chunky but stronger. My avi was taken at probably 10-11%, but I've been staying around 13-14% for a long while. Very blurry abs with some strength and a face that doesn't look so cancer-ridden POW

[Heisman2]

How's the bodyweight/bodyfat going? Just checking on how the goals from page 1 are going. And if you reached the bodyfat goal of 10%, what do/did you think? I'm like a lot of folks who have vacillated between lean but DYEL-look versus chunky but stronger. My avi was taken at probably 10-11%, but I've been staying around 13-14% for a long while. Very blurry abs with some strength and a face that doesn't look so cancer-ridden POW

Never got to 10%. I'm comfortably between 10-15% now. Still cutting a bit for the next few weeks and then I want to bulk for 5 months while outpatient. Just hard with my schedule but the nutrition I'm doing now I think I could keep up with for awhile; we'll see how next week on nights goes. If I'm still going strong in 3 weeks then I may keep pushing it just to see what happens but we'll see.

Front squats with 3 second pauses:
warmup
275x1
225x2

That's it; the 275 felt good and my right leg was a bit iffy with the 225 so I called it. Happy with this.

I will lift Wed/Thu/Fri, and then I'm not sure when I will lift next. I have a 24 hour shift Saturday into Sunday so those days are out unless by some miracle I sleep a decent amount Saturday night, which is quite unlikely. I may try to do a full body workout early Monday. Then I'm on nights Mon-Fri and work again Sun-Fri. If I get in the full body workout Monday I may try to get in another full body session either Thu or Fri and then get back to a more regular schedule the following Monday.

[Heisman2]

Nice workout today:

Weighted pullups:
warmup
BW+80x4x5
BW+80x4
BW+70x4
BW+45x7
BW+45x5
BW+25x8

Seated rows:
warmup
200x5
180x8
180x6

Partial one-armed pulldowns (the end portion of the rep from a little more than 90 degrees):
70x10
80x7

Dumbbell curls:
warmup
50x3
40x8
30x12

This felt good. Pressing movements tomorrow.

[Heisman2]

Nice workout today:

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
75x8
75x6
75x3x4

Hammer grip machine shoulder press:
warmup
180 x 0 (5 second isometric at sticking point)
170 x 0 (5 second isometric at sticking point)
160 x 1
150 x 1
140 x 2
130 x 3

Weighted dips with 3 second pauses:
warmup
BW+115x1
BW+90x2
BW+70x3
BW+45x3

Lateral raises:
35x4
30x6

Tricep overhead extensions/pushdowns:
warmup
55x7/3
50 x 8/2
45 x 8/2

Happy with this. Went really deep with the presses. Somehow managed to kind of pull my right glute during this; I want to squat tomorrow and we'll see if this effects me.

[Heisman2]

Lifted today:

Front squats with 3 second pauses:
warmup
225x3
265x1
245x3
225x3

Back squats with 3 second pauses:
225x1
245x1

Deadlifts:
warmup
365x3

Leg presses:
warmup
325x5
375x1

Did all this with no knee pain at all. I think my body is finally ready to start hitting squats and deadlifts hard again.

However, I have a 24 hour shift starting tomorrow, and then I go to nights, so I'll try to get in a full body workout Monday morning and then I may not lift again until the following Monday.

[Heisman2]

Pulled off a nice session:

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
75x9.5
75x6
75x3x5

Weighted pullups:
warmup
BW+80x6x5

Hammer grip machine shoulder press:
warmup
150x3
140x4
130x5

Leg press:
warmup
325x10
340x10
355x10

Very happy with this. Starting a stretch of nights tonight so we'll see when I get to the gym next. Maybe Saturday depending on how I feel but possibly not until Sunday or Monday.

[Heisman2]

Got back at it today. My stretch of nights went well in the sense that I didn't screw anything up (at least not significantly) and I saw some interesting (which generally also means sad) cases.

Back squats:
135x5
155x5
175x5
195x5
215x5
225x5

Front squats:
135x5
155x5
175x1

The above all felt fine. Front squats feel more natural to me than backsquats do. I stopped as I was getting fatigued (combination of lack of sleep and lack of squatting recently).

Deadlifts:
135x3
225x3
275x1
315x5
335x5
355x5
375x5

The last set was hard and my lower back rounded a bit on the last rep. My weight is down to 150 and I probably have lost some strength but a lot of this is due to not deadlifting in awhile. I need to start pushing these again.

Leg presses:
warmup
355x2x6

One legged leg extensions:
warmup
160x7

Assisted glute ham raises:
10

I didn't have any knee pain with any of this. Hopefully I can start working hard on these movements again and make some progress.

[Heisman2]

Did a quick pressing workout Monday and worked up to a BW+135x1 pullup Tuesday. Back at it today:

Front squats:
warmup
225x2x5
225x3
235x3

All felt good. Got winded quickly.

Deadlifts:
warmup
405x5

These felt good. I had more in me.

Leg press:
warmup
355x2x7

These also felt good.

Only a few more days (and one more 24 hour shift) and I'm done with my NICU rotation. Then I'll be able to start training hard again.

[Payton1221]

Front squats feel more natural to me than backsquats do.

I could be wrong about this, but I suspect that if you asked 10 people who have never squatted before to front squat and another 10 people who have never squatted before to back squat, I think those performing the front squat will have better form than those doing back squats. Dan John even recommends starting with the goblet squat before learning one of the barbell squats. why? I think because it is just "more natural."

[Heisman2]

I could be wrong about this, but I suspect that if you asked 10 people who have never squatted before to front squat and another 10 people who have never squatted before to back squat, I think those performing the front squat will have better form than those doing back squats. Dan John even recommends starting with the goblet squat before learning one of the barbell squats. why? I think because it is just "more natural."

That's interesting. I don't recall ever reading anything to indicate that front vs. back squats are more natural, but I do think front squats would come more naturally. Nice to know you know of Dan John. I loved this article back in the day: http://danjohn.net/the-overhead-squat-article/

Quite sore today. Made it to the gym a bit later than I wanted but such is life:

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
80x6
80x4
80x3
80x2
80x2
70x5
65x5
60x6

Hammer grip machine shoulder press:
warmup
110x4
100x4
90x6

That's it. Felt very good. I expect my next pressing workout to be very nice.

[Payton1221]

Nice to know you know of Dan John. I loved this article back in the day: http://danjohn.net/the-overhead-squat-article/

Years ago I did his Mass Made Simple routine.

What are your thoughts on the overhead squat? I only tried them once or twice . . . perhaps I quit doing them because the weights that I was able to do was too humbling

[Heisman2]

Years ago I did his Mass Made Simple routine.

What are your thoughts on the overhead squat? I only tried them once or twice . . . perhaps I quit doing them because the weights that I was able to do was too humbling

I enjoyed doing them back in the day but haven't tried since tearing my meniscus. I think they are a good movement for athletes. Not too fatigue-inducing as the weight is relatively light while being good for overall flexibility and working on keeping the whole body tight throughout a movement.

Quick session today:

Weighted pullups:
warmup
BW+90x3x5
BW+90x4
BW+90x3

These were fine, then my right lat felt very slightly pulled. This won't hold me back at all moving forward but I didn't want to try to push through it after already getting in 5 good sets.

Dumbbell curls:
warmup
50x3
30x15

These were fine.

[Payton1221]

I enjoyed doing them back in the day but haven't tried since tearing my meniscus. I think they are a good movement for athletes.

What are some exercises that you would recommend for an older lifter assuming no injuries would prohibit them? I include a push, a pull, and a squat every week, and due to some injuries, I like incline db's, ring chins & inverted rows, and front squats. I also do two of Stu McGill's Big 3, but what holes (bad lower back prohibits deadlifting and other than low weight, high rep back squats, they're out too) do you think may exist? What flexibility exercises should I consider incorporating (e.g., get-ups, overhead squats)?

10/23/17 edit: I did OH Squats yesterday. The stretch in my lower back was unreal. Due to lowback issues, I'm not sure if this will be help or hindrance, but I think I'll proceed cautiously for a while, but the poundage was ridiculously low . . . almost struggling with 1/2BW for reps

[Heisman2]

What are some exercises that you would recommend for an older lifter assuming no injuries would prohibit them? I include a push, a pull, and a squat every week, and due to some injuries, I like incline db's, ring chins & inverted rows, and front squats. I also do two of Stu McGill's Big 3, but what holes (bad lower back prohibits deadlifting and other than low weight, high rep back squats, they're out too) do you think may exist? What flexibility exercises should I consider incorporating (e.g., get-ups, overhead squats)?

10/23/17 edit: I did OH Squats yesterday. The stretch in my lower back was unreal. Due to lowback issues, I'm not sure if this will be help or hindrance, but I think I'll proceed cautiously for a while, but the poundage was ridiculously low . . . almost struggling with 1/2BW for reps

I'd generally recommend using full range of motion on all exercises and trying to incorporate squats. If you can do full squats ok then I think your flexibility overall will be fine for functional purposes. Overhead squats would be great if you can do them pain free. Feel free to start with just the empty bar and work up really slowly. Lunges may also be good for this purpose. If you can do Turkish getups I do like those as well. Doing any variation of a bear complex even with just an empty bar can help with conditioning as well as flexibility. Box jumps (where you jump onto a box and then step down) can help with overall athleticism while yielding a relatively low impact on your joints as you land on the box near the top of your jump so there isn’t a huge amount of force upon impact. Russian twists could be good for core flexibility.

Have you tried hyperextensions? Curious if that bothers your lower back.

Not sure if you stretch at all, but if so or if you'd like to start you can look into active-isolated stretching. Can be quite effective and likely safer than proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation style stretching.

Anyways, I had a 24 hour shift from 7am yesterday to 7am today, then slept 6 hours, then went to the gym:

Deadlifts:
warmup
425x5

Leg press:
warmup
355x2x12

That's it. The warmups for deadlifts felt heavy and my body has definitely not recovered from the 24 hour shift, but I got what I wanted so I'm happy with it. The leg press is a lot easier when I don't do squats prior to it. Weighed in today at exactly 150 as well.

[Heisman2]

Nice session today despite my body still catching up on sleep:

Incline dumbbell bench press:
warmup
85x7/4/3/3/2

Weighted dips:
warmup
BW+90x4
BW+70x4
BW+45x5
BW+45x4
BW+25x5

Hammer grip machine shoulder press:
warmup
130x4
110x4
90x6
90x4
70x7

Overhead pulley tricep extensions/tricep pushdowns:
warmup
110x6/2
100x6/2
90x7/2

Also did 40 minutes cardio on an elliptical today.

[Heisman2]

Nice workout today:

Weighted pullups:
warmup
BW+90x5/5/4/3/3
BW+70x4
BW+45x7/5
BW+25x7

My chest was so sore from the workout yesterday that this negatively impacted me here but I definitely did enough to progress well for my next session.

Pulley rows:
warmup
180x5x5

These felt good.

One-armed pulldown partials (upper arm flexed to ~75 degrees to the completion of the rep):
warmup
100x5
110x5

Dumbbell curls:
warmup
50x3
40x5
35x6
30x7

Hammer curls:
25x7

Overall a very nice session. Did 40 minutes of cardio this morning too.

[Payton1221]

Lunges may also be good for this purpose. If you can do turkish getups I do like those as well. Doing any variation of a bear complex even with just an empty bar can help with conditioning as well as flexibility.Have you tried hyperextensions?

Not sure if you stretch at all, but if so or if you'd like to start you can look into active-isolated stretching.

Thanks. I do lunges sometimes superset with prisoner squats (aka air squats) for a good leg burn at the end. I've done Turkish get-ups, but only sparingly. Is that just another good overall flexibility type exercise, and if so, how do you program them: pre-workout, post-workout, or as an actual set/rep exercise like the others? And I've done hyperextensions, and I even built a device where I can do reverse hypers since Louie Simmons was crediting it with helping one rehab a bad back, but I haven't done either in a long while.

I'm still amazed that you can wrestle 85# dumbbells. And your weighted dips are great too. I used to like those before a wonky shoulder acted up.

[Heisman2]

Thanks. I do lunges sometimes superset with prisoner squats (aka air squats) for a good leg burn at the end. I've done Turkish get-ups, but only sparingly. Is that just another good overall flexibility type exercise, and if so, how do you program them: pre-workout, post-workout, or as an actual set/rep exercise like the others? And I've done hyperextensions, and I even built a device where I can do reverse hypers since Louie Simmons was crediting it with helping one rehab a bad back, but I haven't done either in a long while.

I'm still amazed that you can wrestle 85# dumbbells. And your weighted dips are great too. I used to like those before a wonky shoulder acted up.

Hypers and reverse hypers (with high reps) may both be helpful. Turkish get ups would be another flexibility/core exercise; they can quickly get hard as the weight is elevated for people who aren't very big. They would be a nice warmup exercise with light weight, again focusing on staying tight the whole movement. I'd go up in weight slowly; lighter weight with more reps is more ideal in my mind. Thanks; I can get 90s up but I have never gotten 95s up. I'll get there...

Anyways, today I had myriad physical mishaps. I went to sleep with my left hip flexor bothering me for some unknown reason; that has improved but is still present. I did cardio this morning but pushed it too hard and ended up in a terrible coughing fit that lasted 30 minutes; this hasn't happened to me in a long time. Still feeling the effects now and it's night. Shortly after this the back of my neck started getting very sore and is still bothering me a lot - I have absolutely no idea why.

Anyways, went to the gym anyway and worked up to a 445x1 deadlift and then on the leg press worked up to 415x1 and called it there. I may do light cardio tomorrow but will definitely give my body a break.

[Payton1221]

Hypers and reverse hypers (with high reps) may both be helpful. Turkish get ups would be another flexibility/core exercise; they can quickly get hard as the weight is elevated for people who aren't very big. They would be a nice warmup exercise with light weight, again focusing on staying tight the whole movement. I'd go up in weight slowly; lighter weight with more reps is more ideal in my mind.

What do you consider high reps? 15-20?

What modes of cardio do you do? I live on a "knob" (read: small mountain), and I really like riding my bike on the hills. I have two that have me "out of the saddle" and cranking non-stop for 10 minutes that keeps my heartrate to 90% max.